s2e5: let’s audit your photography website for 2023
transcript
Hello and welcome to Let’s Shoot Together, a photography podcast by me, Anna Considine, from Studio Gently. I’m a newly Edinburgh-based branding photographer working with kind and creative kin across the UK, and this podcast is for gentle photographers everywhere. If you’re looking to jump into brand photography or a fellow brand photographer looking for tips, this podcast is for you! Welcome, welcome, welcome!
INTRODUCTION
Hi everyone! We’ve taken a couple of weeks off over Christmas and the new year, but I am so excited to be back, and we’ve got a yummy solo episode to dive into today.
Before we get started, please note that I’ve just released some spots for my 1:1 brand photographer mentoring! If you would like to start your new year with a little extra support, my mentoring is a deep dive into your brand photography business. Whether you are just starting out as a photographer, moving from another area of photography into brand work, or an established brand photographer wanting to pick my brain, I’d love to sit down with you and work through your next season of business in a way that’s practical and actionable. Head to studiogently.com/mentoring to nab your spot!
Today’s topic is one that I’ve covered in many of my previous mentoring sessions, and it’s a subject I have so much to say about: your website. I see lots of photographers’ websites that would be amazing with some crucial fixes, and today I want to chat with you about some of the common, industry-wide issues I see with how photographers present their work online.
This episode isn’t meant to call you out, but I do want to highlight where I think so many of us are letting clients down with our websites and I’m going to share lots of actionable steps to tackle this. Let me know if you find this episode helpful, and let’s get started!
THE CORE ISSUE
The core issue I see too often with photographers' websites is too many photos and too little information.
I get it! We’re visual people, and our photography will get us booked, right?
Actually, not necessarily. I’m not saying that photography isn’t important, but I am saying that it’s only part of what will help a client decide whether or not they want to book us. We need helpful, brand-bolstering, and information-rich copy to nudge a client from feeling intrigued by our work to feeling invested and ready to make an enquiry.
And sadly, many of the photography websites I see (including websites that I built for myself back in the day!) are not much more than portfolio pages with little to no information besides our names and email addresses.
I’ll be honest, this makes me kind of upset! I’ve even got the “ick” feeling as a potential client. A few weeks ago, I visited the site of a wedding photographer whose work was stunning. I’d been following them for a while on Instagram, and I finally looked at their website, expecting it to surpass the effort they’d put into their social media. In reality, they had a page called “Pricing” that didn’t have a single price listed on it. I searched and searched for even just a starting price to give me an idea of what to budget, but there was nothing, just a link to their contact form.
It really put me off. It felt misleading to have a page called “Pricing” and not have anything helpful on it, just more flowery copy that was already present on their other website pages. I should mention that I’m a long way from organising a wedding, but I’m really not sure that they’re a photographer that I’ll look up when the time comes, because I just felt a sense of distrust.
Photography of any kind is an investment, and where there’s an investment, trust is hugely important.
Now that photographer’s website might be an extreme case, but that feeling of “why can’t I find what I’m looking for” is one that I’ve had all too often with photographers' websites. Potentially without meaning to, we can create a “you can’t afford me” vibe for our clients that reminds me a lot of shopping in a designer store like Chanel with no pricing info. The difference is that Chanel can get away with an “if you have to ask, you can’t afford me” vibe because they are CHANEL. They’re an established brand and a household name. For the rest of us, this is putting our clients in an awkward position. We’re borderline wasting their time by having a website of just images (which, by the way, are crap for our SEO) or a site that doesn’t answer their questions sufficiently.
Why am I so passionate about there being enough information on your website? Because clients have consistently told me that my website was why they booked me. I built my site to try and answer every key question a client could have, and the feedback has spoken for itself! In testimonials, thank you emails, and social media posts, I’ve had clients and followers tell me that they really appreciate the amount of information that is on my website, it really helped them, and it helped set my work apart.
WHY WE CAN’T JUST RELY ON INSTAGRAM?
You might be thinking, “But I have lots of information on Instagram, why do I need to add to my website?”
It’s a fair question! Many photographers get an amount of leads from Instagram that they’re happy with, so why bother?
My answer is this: Instagram isn’t your business’ home and it has no interest in doing so.
Think about how hard Meta has made it to talk to a human being at Instagram. At the time of recording, if you get hacked, you are unlikely to get your account back unless you can convince larger accounts to post on your behalf asking Instagram to give it back.
I’ve seen so many brands build engaged, loyal followings on social media, only for a hack to happen and they’ve lost it all. Yes, social media is fun, but it’s not safe enough to be the sole hub for you to attract and direct clients in order to work together.
Even worse, social media isn’t the best source of leads! Leads that find you through web searches have been proven to convert better, spend more, and often necessitate fewer hours of marketing effort than social media leads do.
Instagram is a tool and it can be a great tool, but it has been built to serve its advertisers, not small business owners trying to convert their customers. It’s far more beneficial to add plenty of key information to your website and then use social media to direct followers there than it is to try and use your social media presence in place of a website.
WHAT DOES A GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY WEBSITE NEED?
So we’ve covered what I don’t love seeing on photography websites, so how about what I do?
In this section, we’re going page by page through a website, with the essential pages I think every great photography website needs.
HOMEPAGE
Of course, step one is your homepage, and I like to think of this as a welcome to my brand and a chance to tease the rest of the key content on my website. There needs to be around 500 words of copy minimum on each of your website pages, but don’t forget that your favourite testimonials can bump this word count up if you’re not a writer. Be generous with your Calls To Action and links to helpful pages, and go for a selection of images that best represent the work you want to do, along with a headshot of you!
Bonus tip: I’ve seen multiple SEO pros saying that a slideshow isn’t a great opener to your website because Google finds them less informative than a header shot with keyword-dense copy. This is also true for banner/welcome pages (which I used to have too, don't worry!) – stick to a simple header with H1 text stating your industry and location and a beautiful hero shot.
EXPERIENCE PAGE
The next page I don’t want you to miss is an experience page. This is a chance to show your client what their client journey with you will look like. For many of them, this might be the first time they work with a photographer; for others, they want to know what will make your process unique. I literally have the seven-step process all my shoot journeys share in an accordion block so that clients can click on the title for each step to learn about the process. This page is the one that my clients have told me they love most; by having a super helpful, open website, I communicate that I’m a super helpful, open photographer.
PACKAGES PAGE
Next up, let’s talk about your packages page. I shared a recent Instagram post about whether or not you should include your pricing on your website and it’s linked in the show notes! This really is personal preference, but if you aren’t going to include your full pricing, you should definitely have a starter rate just so that clients know it’s worth their time to get in touch with you.
On my packages page, I have a breakdown of what to expect from my three core packages: how long they typically last for, the minimum number of images I deliver, and how many locations we can shoot in. I include my add-ons, an explanation of what the gallery platform I use offers, plus lots of testimonials because I know from my analytics this is a popular page.
FAQS PAGE
Let’s move onto your FAQs page. This is a chance to again build a reputation for being super helpful to your clients, but also a great opportunity to hone in the kind of clients that get in touch with you.
To cover the basics, I definitely recommend including where you travel for shoots, how long a lead time you need and how long it takes to deliver a shoot from enquiry to finish, but don’t stop there. I have the question “Do you work with vegan brands” precisely because I want to work with more vegan brands. I’m hoping to add more questions that highlight the kinds of business I love working with this quarter.
Any time you get a question on your social media, via email or throughout a client journey, make a note of it and add it to your FAQ page! You can then use this page to help write your blog content and I include links to relevant blog posts in the answers of my FAQs that have them.
Don’t skip this page – it could save you hours of admin and it can really help communicate your values and who your dream clients are.
CONTACT PAGE
Next up, let’s talk about your contact page. I used to have a form at the bottom of my experience, package, and info pages, but it can look a lot tidier and lead to less form upkeep when you include a gorgeous CTA and link to your contact page instead. I love including a photo of me looking straight at the camera above or next to a contact page, and be generous with how often you link to it – my pal Aistė who was our first guest on this series when through my website with me and she pointed out that some clients will be ready to book after the first paragraph, while some will want to read all the way to the bottom of several pages.
My contact page is a button in my navigation bar, because I think it’s the most important part of my site!
I definitely recommend creating a form that balances is detailed, but not eons long to complete, instead of just your email address. An easy-to-find email address is a gateway to lots of spam, and a contact form is a great way to get to know your client so that you can prepare ahead of any consultation calls.
My form currently asks my clients’ name, their pronouns, email address, business name, where they are based, and what accessibility needs I can honour, which I recommend as a bare minimum. I also ask what their business offers, which shoot of mine has most resonated with them, and how they heard about me. You want to be able to collect enough information without having a form so long that no one will ever fill it in; I love that mine is hosted on Dubsado, my CRM platform, so that I can have custom workflows triggered based on some of their answers.
PORTFOLIO
Now I’ve recently worked on India Earl’s Pricing Workshop and she mentions that she doesn't think we need a portfolio page, or series of pages. I get her point: if you have plenty of images across your site and a blog featuring client sessions, you can get away without one.
What I will mention is that my portfolio pages are consistently my most visited on my site, so for now, I’m happy to keep them. Yes, you can see my work elsewhere, but I think it’s pretty clear that my audience appreciates being able to easily see a wide variety of my work in one place!
If you are going to have a portfolio page, I suggest focusing heavily on shoots that are representative of the work you would like to do more of, and make sure you have enough variety. I reviewed a website for a friend recently and because they only had about five shoots featured, it looked like they were less experienced than they really were.
Please make sure to SEO format your images, with titles and alt text, and don’t neglect the copy here either! Again, aim for about 500 words, and use this as another chance to describe the work you are most proud of and would love to do more of.
BLOG
Last of all, blogs are amazing!
I know you might think you aren’t reading many blogs at the moment, but chances are you come across them while Google searching all the time without necessarily realising it. Just as importantly, search engines are reading blogs, and they are a great way to build up your SEO by creating content around the keywords you would like to be discovered for.
Not only this, they are a great way for new clients to do a deep dive into your work and fall in love with you. I try to write a blog post about all my favourite client shoots, using my welcome questionnaires to fill in lots of the content and including testimonials where appropriate. Use your blog to write guides for your clients, answering those FAQs we mentioned earlier, so that a client can feel prepared and committed to working with you long before they get in touch.
I also think blog content can really help show off your expertise. When clients see you writing about elements of your industry that you have experience with, they can understand and appreciate you as an expert and build more of that crucial trust.
GENERAL photography WEBSITE TIPS
Before we wrap up for today, here are some of my bonus tips for your website to make sure it’s serving you and your clients:
Change your images up regularly. It can help your site feel fresh and give visitors a reason to check back and snoop around on a recurring basis.
Check your website speed to ensure you aren’t slowing it down with too many elements.
Think about multiple URLs if you have the budget for them. I have both studiogently.com and studiogently.co.uk because I often find myself confused when searching for other people’s sites.
Get a friend to give you feedback, or ask your followers to take a peep for you! This is an amazing way to learn what you might be missing from just being so used to your website.
Headings are for keywords, not styling. I get around this by using CSS to customise any bits of text that are purely illustrative, but I try to ensure my heading text of H1 and H2 in particular are for headers that include my keywords.
OUTRO
And there you have it! If you enjoyed this show, please subscribe for more and leave a review on your fave podcast platform so that more people can discover Let's Shoot Together. You can share this episode with the hashtag #letsshootogether and tag me on @studiogently so I can repost you!
I hope you’re ready for a fantastic interview episode next week and I hope you have good things ahead of you, wherever and whenever you are! Take care and let’s go shoot together.
